Huaraz

Sorry for the long break from posting, it's been busy lately. Last weekend, Devin, Amy and I went to Huaraz, a mountain town 8 hours northeast of Lima. We set out last Thursday night on an overnight bus and arrived at 6:30 am. The bus was tolerable, though I have always had trouble sleeping on buses. Our hostel opened for check-ins at 5:30am, so we promptly checked in and went to bed. Thankfully, the hostel was nice and the beds cozy, so we took an extended nap. After we got back on our feet we went out to explore Huaraz. We visited the Museo Arquelogico which was small and cozy, but educational. Friday was nearly a lost day, due to several naps and going to bed early, but still it was a good adjustment day.

Saturday we went on a tour around Ancash province. First we went to Carhuaz, a former gold-mining town to check out the Plaza de Armas. The fountain actually had gold-plated miner figures in it... interesting enough. We did a lot of Plaza touring over the course of the day, also hitting up Caraz (different than Carhuaz), and Yungay. While in Caraz we were lucky enough to catch a parade; apparently it was teacher's day in Ancash (and maybe Peru in general) and the townsfolk were out dancing and singing in full force. It was a fantastic image. We ate lunch in Yungay and then went to visit the Campo Santo (Holy ground). The Campo Santo is a memorial to the victims of the 1970 earthquake and avalanche that claimed over 25,000 lives. Now there is a lovely garden in addition to the pre-existing cemetary on the hill. The big attraction of the trip was the Llaganuco lakes. Glacial melting created these lakes tucked away in the mountains at over 3000m. The water is a teal or turquoise, a nearly indescribable color. Pictures can barely do these lakes justice. There, Devin, Amy and I hiked for a while and took some amazing photos with a llama... All in all, the tour was a good time and a great value. We each paid 30 soles for about 10 hours of fun, which is about $1 per hour.

Our final day we hiked to Wilcawain, pre-Incan ruins north of town. The hike, up a mountain, was a bit on the brutal side and about 3/4 of the way there we hitched a ride on a combi. At least ten people were crowded on the mini-bus and we held onto whatever we could to steady ourselves. It was quite the cultural experience, but it was pretty fun. The ruins were very cool. They were intact structures, stone buildings that were at one point homes and tombs (there were several levels). I love historical tourism, so this was right up my alley. Afterward, we took a combi back Huaraz and then hopped a cab to Carhuaz to have dinner. This was not the greatest idea and there was only really one restaurant open in Carhuaz on this Sunday night. We were fairly certain that every Carhuazino was at this specific restaurant... The food and the service weren't that great, but it was cheap. Afterward we took the overnight bus back to Lima. I didn't sleep well, but we finally arrived at 5:30 am (a little early), so I went to bed for 30 minutes until I had to get ready for work. Yes, I went to work at 8am and it was miserable.

All in all, a marvelous, nature-filled weekend! I would recommend Huaraz to anyone heading to Peru. Below is the link to my Huaraz photo album. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2250805&l=d9020&id=16802686